SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Engineers and city officials garnered public comment about their proposals to improve the safety and walkability of a section of Ballston Avenue that saw an average of one accident a month for more than three years.

"There were 42 accidents in 42 months," said Peter Faith, the traffic engineering and planning department manager and assistant vice president of Greenman-Pedersen Engineering and Construction Services. His company has been evaluating the city's redevelopment of Ballston Avenue between its intersections with Hamilton Street and Lincoln Avenue.

That section of road has been on a list of projects awaiting state funds since 2007. Last year, the city moved forward with Greenman-Pedersen to evaluate the road and figure out how to improve it.

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The group set out two alternatives Thursday.

Both include putting new signals at Lincoln Avenue and Hamilton Street and widening the road for a center turn lane. That would require acquiring land on either side of Ballston Avenue, City Engineer Tim Wales said.

"We are more developing right-of-ways that we already have," he said. "It's very minimal."

The solutions also include the addition of sidewalks to either side of the road, as well as street trees and decorative street lamps.

"Some of the sidewalks that are there now are in bad condition," Faith said.

There would also be pedestrian crossings at Lincoln Avenue, all of which would improve pedestrian safety. Faith pointed out there are a number of bus stops in the area, but few places for pedestrians to cross.

Nearby Lincoln Avenue resident Geoff Wood said the pedestrian benefits seem to be the biggest impact of the improvements.

"I think it's a great project overall. They are some sorely needed improvements," he said, "particularly the signal at the intersection of Ballston Avenue and Lincoln Avenue. A lot of people walk to Price Chopper. I see the pedestrian traffic every day."

The primary difference between the two is how the group handles the five-way intersection of Ballston Avenue, Union Street and Perry Street.

One plan would make Union Street north and south of Ballston Avenue as well as Perry Street all one-way heading away from the intersection.

The other plan would simply cap Union Street to the south of the intersection and Perry Street, leaving that a three-way intersection with Union Street to the north.

Wood said that was his concern, though. With the elimination of the Union Street through-fare, which he said is utilized frequently by people trying to get off of South Broadway, he is concerned about where that traffic will end up.

"Nothing has been decided on these two alternatives," Faith said.

The project is still working through details. Its $1.41 million price tag may be increased to about $2 million. At this point 95 percent of that tag will be paid for by state and federal funds. Its time frame stretches through 2013, but Faith and Wales said the idea is to not close the road -- which has an average of 13,400 vehicles pass over it a day.

Public Works Commissioner Anthony "Skip" Scirocco said the project will not only make the area safer for pedestrians and traffic, but will also make the area more attractive and will adhere to the city's new Complete Streets Policy.

"This is the first major project the Complete Streets Committee can really sink their teeth into," Wales said.

Complete Streets is an agreement the city signed onto earlier this year that will ensure construction on streets includes consideration of pedestrians and other modes of transportation.

"Right now, the roads of Saratoga Springs are designed almost exclusively for motor vehicles," said Charlie Samuels, one of the members of the Shared Access Advisory Board, which administers the city's Complete Streets program.

Samuels said he's seen their proposals and "I think they're going in the right direction."

The Shared Access Advisory Board is supposed to weigh in on the project this week.